Millions of homes and office buildings in the United States and elsewhere have `dedicated` heating and cooling systems in that a centrally located thermostat actuates the respective modes of air-conditioning or heating when conditions dictate. These systems, especially in major office complexes, rely almost exclusively on such installed heating and air-conditioning systems to maintain an adequate comfort zone within the environmental spaces of the enclosures.
In many office buildings, for example, even the windows do not open to provide needed ventilation. As a result of this dependence on the mechanical heating and air-conditioning, energy costs can be excessive and equipment, through an almost constant seasonal use, wears out sooner than would otherwise be the case if a supplemental ventilation and control system were installed.
The present invention relates to those devices for enabling and disabling heating and cooling equipment for the purpose of more efficiently ventilating an enclosure and further relates to an apparatus for manually or automatically selectively switching from one mode of operation, one type of ventilation, heating or cooling equipment, to another depending on the specific prevailing environmental factors.
This invention further relates to those control systems utilizing a set of sensors, such as thermostats and humidistats or enthalpy sensors, which in conjunction with such appurtances as supply and exhaust fans, operate through the heating and cooling duct system to selectively ventilate air through an enclosure.
Specifically, this invention relates to a control system that operates in conjunction with and controls a standard ducted heating and cooling installation such that air is circulated throughout the enclosure when proper parameters of temperature and humidity are met, and which are dependent upon the existing outside ambient conditions.